A Snake Among Rangers
by Poison-Stripes
Summary: The story of how a Power Ranger ends up helping the legendary Solid Snake put an end to the threat of Metal Gear and the Patriots once and for all. Rated M for language, blood and violence.
1. The Capture of an Immortal Ranger

Longish Author's Notes: Okay, I know I took this down. I realized that I was getting in way over my head, so I took it down for review and whatnot. The remaining chapters are still getting the treatment of editing and all, and to make sure I didn't screw up anywhere (because I consider myself a perfectionist for my grammar and spelling).

What's kept me from doing this before? Hmm...let's see, life. Graduating from CCC, getting into Drexel, going to Balticon and job-hunting like a demon.

Oh and pimping out my boyfriend's father's book Shards:Book 1. It really is a good book and it's a really good sci-fi book, too. Basically (without trying to spoil it for you) the main character had a pretty damn good life. He was a retired soldier who was a project leader for a company called NATech. Then one day it all came crashing down, especially when he woke up...about six hundred years later. And instead of being a full-grown man...well, I'll leave that part for you guys to read. PM me if you want more info.

Also, yes this is still the first story of it's kind. A Power Rangers and Metal Gear crossover. And yes, it is AU. (Glad that's out of the way because I do NOT wish to rehash this later). So, for old and new readers, without further ado, enjoy!

A Snake Among Rangers

Chapter 1: The Capture of an Immortal Ranger

"Today's date is Saturday June 20, 1998. The time is 3:00 P.M.," announced an alarm clock sitting on a desk in a robotic female voice.

"Three o'clock already? Time flies, nowadays," said a man with a low voice. The man walked over to the desk, where the clock was sitting, and picked up a rather thick manila folder. He knew that getting this kind of information was extremely lucky, considering the source of the info. His friend almost died in the process, but their commanding officer had ordered such Intel. The reason, of course, would become clear to both men in the next couple of days, from what their commanding officer told them earlier that day.

"Now gentlemen," said an older man with a British accent, "and lady," he motioned to the woman in a lab coat that was also with them as he spoke, "the folders that are before you contain information about a certain individual. I wish to thank Mr. Anderson for gathering this for us. You are to read over this information. I will meet with you in two days time. Dismissed," finished the British man, and they all walked out of the room.

"Zero," said Mr. Anderson, "getting through those barriers was-"

"Difficult, I know," said Zero in his British accent. He continued, "I want the three of you to read over this carefully. I will let you know in two days' time why I asked you to gather this Intel."

"Yes, sir," said Mr. Anderson and another man in unison.

"Oh, and Dr. Clark," said Zero as he turned to face the woman, "be prepared, alright?"

"I will be," said Dr. Clark, and she walked off to her office, with the folder in one hand and a big notepad and pen in the other.

"Ocelot," said Zero as he turned his head to the other man, "make sure you take extra precaution. This individual is-"

"Major Zero, I know. I know about the team this person's on," said the other man, in a reassuring way.

"Alright, but be careful."

"Yes, sir," said Ocelot and he headed to the mess hall for lunch.

Ocelot sighed as he reflected on that meeting in the day. He sat down at his desk and began going over the information that he was given. There was something written on the flap of the folder.

"Information on the Immortal Power Ranger," read Ocelot dryly. "This is what the information is about? Zero must be getting senile, or desperate. Only someone like that would want to experiment on a Power Ranger, and on this one, no less. She's only a child. But still, she can't be killed, however," said Ocelot finally. He began going over the Intel by opening the folder and reading the girl's name: Elora Abbott.

Meanwhile, Dr. Clark was also going over the information she garnered at the meeting as well. She was in shock when she read both the title on the flap and the name.

"She's only a child!" exclaimed Dr. Clark. "What the hell is Zero thinking? But still, she's immortal, and a legend to boot among those Rangers," she finished quietly to herself, but nevertheless enraged at Zero for selecting a child for this project. "He could have chosen one of the older Rangers," she thought to herself. She then continued to pour over the info in the folder.

"This had better be worth it, Zero," Anderson said to himself. "I had to crack into their Morphing Grid to get this! Even I couldn't believe those barriers that were in place. But, I did it," said Anderson. He then went over the information in the folder to himself in his office.

Ocelot took a drag from the cigar he lit as he read the contents of the folder. After putting it into the ashtray nearby, he stood up from his chair and walked around for a bit. "The time is now 7:00 P.M.," announced the clock. "Damn, it's been four hours already?" said Ocelot. Even he couldn't believe the time. He sat down in his chair and read over the child's profile. "Hmm, 'age 11, born 11/20/1986, recently had a cybernetic arm attached to replace one that was destroyed in battle, but that arm isn't Earth technology, though,'" he said flatly and continued, "been a Ranger since she was six years old'?" His eyes widened from the surprise at not only her age, but also how long she had been a Ranger. "This must be one powerful kid, then." He chuckled to himself and thought that maybe, just maybe, Zero could be right all along.

"Nice try, T.J." said a girl in a space uniform wearing a purple shirt underneath her jacket, "but you have to get up pretty early to catch me off-guard." She laughed as her friend had clearly missed her head by a good three feet.

"Damn, Elora, you're fast, you know that?" panted her friend. He too was wearing a space uniform like Elora was except he wore a blue shirt. However, his shirt was saturated with sweat; hers was still dry.

"Maybe it's because I'm a demi goddess?" said Elora with a sly look on her face. "Oh I'm only messing with you. I've been a Ranger for years, remember?" she said with an eyebrow raised.

"Hell, I can't forget that. And you look like the Rock from WWF with your eyebrow raised, you know that?" replied T.J. with a smile on his face.

"It doesn't matter what you think!" said Elora, doing an impression of the Rock, "C'mon, man, let's call it a day, huh?"

"Agreed," panted T.J. as Elora offered her hand to help him up. They walked out of the room to the mess hall to get some food.

"Hey, what's wrong, Elora? Something bugging you?" asked T.J., noticing the worried look on his friend's face.

"Yeah, T.J. You reek!" said Elora as she held her nose. "Eww, man! I didn't think that you'd work up a sweat like that against me."

"Well, your shirt's still dry!" T.J. snapped back at her, "And you've only had that arm for a month, now. It's not giving you any trouble, though?

"Nope. I practiced writing with it after Apollo popped it into place last month. So, no change in my writing style. I can move it normally as well and I don't have to worry about having a broken bone in my right arm, right?"

T.J. nodded in agreement with her and as they continued their conversation they proceeded into the mess hall.

"Bottle of water, apple and roasted chicken," ordered T.J. from the replicator, then Elora ordered, "Green tea, banana and homemade chicken noodle soup." Their meals came out and they both sat down to fill their tanks with food.

"That's odd, Elora. What's with the light meal? Usually you eat just as much as the rest of us," remarked T.J. as he pointed his fork at the child goddess's meal.

Elora took a swig from her green tea and replied, "I haven't been feeling too well lately. I figure that if I go with a light meal I might feel better. And chicken noodle soup is supposed to make you feel better. But this," she said, pointing to her soup with her spoon with a look of disgust on her face, "it kinda tastes like watered down condensed soup."

She continued to eat it anyway.

T.J. continued his meal and realized that she did look paler than usual. Normally her complexion was very fair, and come summer her skin would turn as red as his Turbo Ranger suit if she neglected to apply sunscreen lotion. But, for the past week she looked like she had just blanched from the thought of something terrible. Elora, meanwhile, had realized that T.J. had a good point. She was paler than usual, though when she did get ghostly pale, it was usually during the colder months in her home state of New Jersey, or when she was sick. She chalked her recent change in skin color to the latter. Her different complexion caused their leader Andros to almost commit her to Sick Bay before a battle a few months ago, until Ashley, Andros's girlfriend, told him why this happened.

"Oh," came his reply back then, "never mind."

"It's alright. I understand," she had told him.

"Eww, what smells like sweaty gym socks?" asked a woman walking into the mess hall wearing a space uniform with a pink shirt.

"Him," Elora said, pointing her spoon at T.J.

"T.J., did she whoop your butt again in practice?" asked the girl as she pushed a long strand of black hair out of face.

"Yup," replied Elora, "like always."

"Very funny, Elora," shot back T.J.

"Elora, are you ok? You look like you lost a lot of color to your face," the woman continued with a worried look on her own face. Elora looked at the woman and replied, "Yeah I know. I hear it from my parents and Andros. I guess I haven't been feeling too well, huh?"

The woman put a hand on Elora's forehead and pulled it away quickly. "You're burning up! I think you should see Alpha 6 in Sick Bay." Noticing Elora's look that said, "I'll go after I eat" the woman continued, "Maybe you should take tomorrow off to relax. We don't want you to pass out on us in the middle of a battle."

"Relax, Cassie. Nothing like that's gonna happen to me. But, you do have a point, though," said Elora and continued, "I will admit that I must have been pushing myself too hard this past week and not realize it." She finished her meal and disposed of her tray. Sometimes I feel like I'm on the Enterprise or DS9 with the food replicator, though… she thought to herself. As she was heading to Sick Bay, she turned to T.J. and Cassie and added, "If the others are looking for me, tell 'em I'm in Sick Bay." And with that she went off to see Alpha 6.

"Cassie, you sure she's running a fever? She seemed fine to me during practice," T.J. remarked. He finished his meal, disposed of the tray and returned to his seat.

"T.J., you could literally fry an egg on her forehead," replied Cassie, who had begun her meal while T.J. disposed of his tray.

"I see, now. Remember, though-she's not mortal, like us," said T.J.

"I know, but she still is only a child. If Andros finds out—"

"If I find out what? Cassie, what's going on with Elora?" replied their leader, also wearing the same space uniform but wearing a red shirt instead. He leaned against the doorway and continued, "I hope she's not sick. If she is, then I'll make stay on the ship tomorrow. I don't care even if she is a goddess-"

"Technically a demi goddess," interjected T.J.

"Well, whatever," replied the man in red irritably. "She'll stay put until she gets better. I'd rather have her get well here than pass out in battle against Astronema's forces."

In came the other woman, also wearing the same space uniform like everyone else except she wore a yellow shirt. "Good point, Andros, but if we die out there who's going to bring us back from the dead if she's on the ship?"

As soon as she said that, there was an uneasy silence in the room. The others realized that the other woman had a point-Elora had the ability to raise the dead and had amazing healing abilities. It was only a week after Elora received her arm that she saved Carlos's life in a very intense battle against Ecliptor. If Elora hadn't been there, they would have buried one of their own.

"Why the long looks, guys?" asked another man who walked in. This man was also wearing a space uniform, except he wore a black shirt underneath the jacket and spoke with a Latino accent. "What happened?"

"Elora's been looking a little paler than usual, Carlos. She's on her way to Sick Bay to see Alpha," answered Andros finally. "Oh, come on, guys, cheer up. We'll be fine out there, with or without her," he said, trying to lighten the mood in the mess hall.

"Andros is right. Besides, she'll be fine, and so will we."

"Ashley, you have a point," replied Cassie, addressing the woman with the yellow shirt.

"I'll catch you guys, later, then," said T.J. as he rose from his chair and walked out of the room. The others, on the other hand, all got their meals and ate their dinner, now talking about the training regiment that they all went through.

"Elora, are you ok?" asked a little robot who noticed Elora walking into Sick Bay.

"Well, Alpha, that's your job to find out, right?" retorted the young Ranger. She hopped onto the bed and Alpha gave her a full examination. "Cassie says that I'm running a fever."

"She's right. Your temperature is 101 degrees."

"About three degrees higher than normal, huh?"

"Precisely 2.1 degrees above normal. Here," said the robot, handing Elora a cup of water and continued, " I want you to stay the night here, alright?"

"Ok," said Elora reluctantly. She wasn't too happy about having to stay in Sick Bay but she lay down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. Sighing to herself, she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

"Today is Sunday June 21, 1998. The time is 8:00 AM," announced the alarm clock on Dr. Clark's desk. She opened her eyes to look at the clock. As tired as she was from the day before, she still had a hard time wrapping her head around all the information Mr. Anderson gathered on this particular Ranger. "Why her? She's only a child," Dr. Clark said to herself. She got up, got dressed and headed to grab something for breakfast.

"'Be prepared', he said. What the hell does he mean by that? What danger could a child pose to—oh," said Dr. Clark, remembering the San Hieronymo takeover in late 1970. Her former friend Naked Snake had told her, Mr. Anderson (or Sigint, as he was known back then) and Major Zero about a young teen with incredible psychic powers. She had a dual personality; Elisa was the medic and the weaker of the two. Ursula, however, was the stronger of the two and a soldier in the FOX unit. Naked Snake had no choice but to fight her. After Naked Snake took out Gene (who had killed Ursula for betraying him), their group was formed and Naked Snake used Big Boss as his codename. Zero was still smarting from Big Boss's departure, even after all these years.

Then word got out that Big Boss's clone, Solid Snake, had defeated him at Outer Heaven three years ago.

Zero became genuinely concerned about Big Boss. They had been friends, once, but that was a long time ago. But Big Boss rebelled and founded Outer Heaven, a nation of soldiers built by soldiers. However, all anyone knew was that a rookie soldier going by the name of Solid Snake had defeated the Greatest Soldier of the Twentieth century. No one knew if Big Boss had survived.

But the news of a bunch of spandex-wearing superheroes, however, quickly turned Zero's attention elsewhere.

Zero immediately ordered Mr. Anderson to find out everything he could about this group.

Sigint had done his research as he was told and discovered all he could about them, save for their identities. He discovered that they were called the Power Rangers, dedicated to saving the world from the forces of evil. They had been fighting since 1880, but five years ago they had start up again. Seven teenagers made up this team. They also had mechas of their own, called Zords. Sigint thought of the possibility of altering one of these megazords that the Power Rangers were so fond of as a tactic of uniting the world under the Boss's ideals. Then Zero came to his office only last month and ordered Mr. Anderson to find out everything he could about one particular Ranger-the purple Ranger, in fact.

"But Zero, why this one?" asked Anderson curiously.

"Listen to me, DARPA chief, you'll find out soon enough," replied Zero. He meant business, Anderson noticed, and wanted no mistakes. "Oh, and good luck, Donald. You'll need it," finished Zero as he walked out of Anderson's office.

Anderson immediately set out to do his work. Zero had also left something on his desk-a rather big and thick gold coin, with the image of a three-clawed foot on it. Anderson picked up the coin and noticed its size. It was larger than a quarter and the image of the three-clawed foot was also on the other side of the coin. "I've never seen something like this, before. How did he get this? I heard a rumor that they were all gone. Oh well," said Anderson and he placed the coin down on the desk. Suddenly the coin levitated in the air and shot out a bolt of energy, hitting his laptop.

"What the hell? My laptop!" exclaimed Anderson. The coin continued to levitate next to the laptop and suddenly the monitor flickered. "Oh, my God, this is amazing!" exclaimed Anderson. It seemed that this strange coin had allowed him access to the database of the Power Rangers.

Sigint set about his work, typing in "Purple Ranger" into the search section. What he found left him in complete shock; the seventh "teenager" was in fact a child. This child apparently could turn into an adult once morphed. He now realized that this wasn't just their database-this was their Morphing Grid that he hacked into. Grabbing a notepad and a pen, Sigint wrote down all the information about this Ranger-her name, age, everything. A few hours went by as he did his assigned work, but he was so engrossed in his research that he never noticed the hunger pangs that clawed at his stomach the whole time. He also managed to print out a picture of her without her suit on and attached it to his notepad with a paperclip. As he was about to access information about the machines she used in battle, the coin shot another energy bolt at the laptop, knocking out the power, then the coin spun around and fired a powerful shot at Anderson, knocking him out of his chair and onto the floor.

Dr. Clark heard the commotion and rushed to Donald's office. What she saw almost made her heart stop. The laptop on his desk had been completely fried, the papers that were on his desk had been scattered all over the floor and as for Donald himself, he was on the floor, his shirt obviously badly burned and the chair destroyed along with the laptop.

"P-P-Para-Medic…help…me," said Anderson, before completely passing out.

"Guards! Help!" exclaimed the frightened doctor. She was so shocked by what she had heard and seen. Two guards came immediately, and after explaining that Anderson needed help, the men went into the office and took him to the infirmary. She entered the office and put out the now flaming laptop, noticed the coin and pocketed it for safekeeping.

"Today is Sunday June 21, 1998. The time is 12:00 P.M.," chimed the clock on the doctor's desk. Startled by the clock, Dr. Clark realized that she had dozed off while going over the contents of the folder and dreamed about Anderson finding out all he could about the child Ranger before the coin nearly killed him. Removing the coin from her pocket, she examined the coin and noted to herself the size, color and thickness of this coin. She also noticed a three-clawed foot on both sides of the coin as well. This is bigger than the Russian ruble. It must have sensed that he wasn't a Ranger and must have tried to kill him to protect this Morphing Grid, as he called it, she thought to herself. Realizing what Zero had in mind, she began to prepare the various medicines needed to at least knock the child out so she could properly be restrained. The rest, of course, was up to Zero.

"Hmm, I have a feeling I know where this is going and I don't like it," said Ocelot to himself. Ever since Anderson was almost killed two days before yesterday's meeting, Ocelot was beginning to have second thoughts about wanting to help Zero. After pouring over the information in the folder, he realized what Zero wanted and this was one plan that Ocelot wanted no part in. He wasn't going to deny that he wanted a united world like Zero did, (Ocelot remembered the various wars all too well) but what Zero wanted to do and how he wanted to unite all of the people of Earth was almost the straw that broke the camel's back. With these Power Rangers now fighting to defend their planet, it was obvious to Ocelot that his commanding officer wanted peace on Earth, by any means necessary, even if it meant the capture of an immortal Ranger like Elora Abbott. At the meeting that was to be held the next day, Ocelot decided not to voice his opinions. There was enough discord at it was in their group, the Patriots as they were called, and Ocelot didn't want to add to it.

"Now that I think about it, if I left the Patriots would be split in half," he said to himself amusingly. Taking another drag from his cigar and replacing it into the ashtray, he headed out of his office to grab something to eat.

"Ocelot, there you are," said Zero. "Have you gone over the—"

"Yes, I have. It's simply amazing," replied Ocelot, trying like hell to hide his disagreement with Zero.

"Is there something bothering you, Adamska?"

"No, Zero. Nothing wrong," came Ocelot's reply, taken back that Zero used his first name. "But, no one has called me that in a long time," he finished flatly.

"Well, you are my friend, correct?"

"Of course, Zero."

"Good. I'll see you at the meeting tomorrow." With that Zero turned on his heel and left Ocelot by himself in the mess hall. Ocelot grabbed his meal and returned to his office, wondering just what the hell did Zero meant by calling him by his first name.

Elora woke up the next day in Sick Bay, not feeling any better than the day before. Her head was now pounding beyond belief. So this is what Zeus went through when my older sister Athena was born, she thought miserably. However, this headache was somehow, different. She didn't know why, but she felt that this headache was unlike the ones she had before. A few minutes after she woke up with a headache, the pain only escalated and she had a vision-she saw a military base in the middle of a cold snowfield. She also saw a strange bipedal tank, with a giant gun of some sort for a right arm and a huge circular object that looked like a satellite dish on the left arm of the tank. She also saw a man, a man who would help destroy the tank and she herself would help him, the pair wearing bandannas, he wearing some sort of body armor like the police wear and she would be wearing a different suit. Not a Power Ranger suit, however, but a suit meant for stealth, only in her color and molded for her shape. She also saw a pack of huskies as well in the middle of the base. Elora also saw another man along with the other one. But this man had longish gray hair (similar in length to Carlos's hair) and he wore glasses and a white lab coat. A woman with short red hair carrying some sort of gun was also in her vision. Elora saw herself making friends with these three people.

Then the pain intensified, and she saw different people.

But this new group was not like the three she had just saw. She saw five men and one woman. One was a dead ringer for the first man she saw, save for the skin and hair color. Another looked like he was a bodybuilder, his head was covered with a tattoo of a raven, and he carried a rather large gun. This gun looked like it belonged on a tank, and not on this man's body as his weapon. The other was unusual as he only wore a tan colored trench coat. She sensed that he was good at impersonations; too good, however. Another man had long silver hair and looked like he belonged in a John Wayne flick, not in a military base. But this man, in her opinion, enjoyed torture a little too much. Perfect for Astronema's forces, she managed to think before the pain returned and the vision continued. She then saw the woman. This woman had great emotional pain, and carried a long gun. Elora realized that this was the group's sniper. The woman also was well endowed and also had long blonde-greenish hair. Elora felt immense pity for this woman.

Then she saw the final man, and the pain in Elora's head intensified than what it already was.

This man had psychic powers that rivaled both her and Andros's abilities combined as they stood at that point. His face was also horribly scarred, and he wore a gas mask over it. This man's powers were incredible. Elora knew her powers would be great, but she didn't believe that she'd encounter an enemy as powerful as this man.

This man would require cooperation between the man with the bandana, the redheaded woman and herself in order to properly stop him.

At long last, the vision ended, and she stopped screaming in pain.

Panting and sitting straight up, she realized that she had been screaming quite loudly, for the other Rangers ran into the room and wondered why she screamed.

Andros looked quite shocked out of them all, his red shirt completely saturated with sweat, his blonde and brown hair all over the place.

"What happened? We heard you screaming. Are you alright?" asked Andros, coming to her side and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I had a vision, a strange vision," panted Elora, and continued, "I didn't realize that I was screaming, and my head hurts," she cried out, now holding her head in great pain. Tears came as her head was pounding from the intense vision. "It's driving me nuts!" Andros sat on the bed next to her and pulled her in for a hug. Releasing the hug, he calmly told her, "I had a vision, too. Did it involve a base of some sort?"

Looking up and wiping away a couple of tears, Elora replied, "Yes it did. There was one hell of a psychic. I've never felt that kind of power before, though. I feel like I just got jawed with a sledgehammer," said Elora, still in terrible pain and rubbing her jaw.

"Here you go, Elora," said Ashley as she handed the youngest Ranger a bottle.

"'Excedrin Migraine'?" read Elora.

"Yeah. It helped last time, didn't it?"

"I guess so," replied Elora, opened the bottle and took two pills. "Thanks, Ashley," she finished and handed the bottle to Andros.

"You're welcome," said Ashley as she handed the pair two cups of water.

"Last time? She had a vision like this before?" asked Andros after he followed suit.

"Yeah. She had one about a year ago, when Tommy was still at the Power Chamber," replied Ashley.

"It was about seeing Zordon telling a Red Ranger to kill him to save the universe," Elora said flatly.

"It gave everyone a good scare," said T.J. and continued, "especially Tommy. I'm not doubting you, Elora, it's just that this vision you had and the last one were well, just plain weird."

"All right T.J., then tell me this: why did Andros have the same vision like I did just now?" she deadpanned.

"Because we're both psychics, that's why," answered Andros. Agreeing with him, the group went to the mess hall to grab some breakfast.

Andros had a lot on his mind that morning, in part to the shared vision he and Elora had. True, he had better control over his abilities, but he decided that it was Elora who needed practice. At breakfast he handed her a napkin to wipe the blood off of her face from the nosebleed she also suffered. He assumed that for her, it was so powerful that it caused her to hemorrhage. Andros remembered that when his powers were developing, he too hemorrhaged as well, so he was sympathetic towards her.

"Let me train you today, Elora," said Andros.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Listen, when I was a kid I went through the same head-trip you're going through. I think you just need some practice, is all."

Elora thought it over and said, "Okay. Sounds like a good idea."

"We'll head for Earth in the meantime, then. If there's any trouble we'll let you guys know," said Cassie as she and the other three mortal Rangers headed to Earth.

"C'mon," said Andros, "let's go to the training room."

"Okay," said Elora as she followed him to the room.


	2. Setting Things in Motion

_Author's Notes:_ These notes are probably going to be short for a while, at least until the story is updated to where it is on dA (yeah, yeah, shoot me later, alright?) Basically this chapter, well, does as it says in the title, folks. Also shows what happens when you piss off a demigoddess...Hmm, I wonder what temperature does the metal on Ecliptor melt at? Anyway, as far as the other part goes, yes that is going to factor quite heavily into the story. You'll see soon enough.

Also expect the gods themselves to play a role at some point.

And with that this is the last chapter that was edited and fixed before my first beta reader bounced on me (Me and her worked things out, so it's cool).

Enjoy.

Oh, and before I forget, yes I like reviews. But please, no nasty ones. Yes, I've been flamed and surprisingly I'm alright. Don't worry about the length of the chapters, though. I learned my lesson about that.

Oh and if I didn't mentioned this before I will now: This is AU, got it? Good.

_End Author's Notes._

**A Snake Among Rangers**

Chapter 2: Setting Things in Motion

"Wow, it's been a few days since we've been home on Earth, huh?" said T.J. to the others.

"Yeah," said Carlos. "I'm going to check on some of the kids I coach, ok?"

"Yeah, we'll see you later," said Cassie.

"C'mon, let's go see Angela," said Ashley.

"Alright."

"I'm going to the batting cage, ok?"

"Cool. See you later, T.J.," said Cassie.

"See ya."

It had been at least a good two weeks since the Rangers had been on Earth that didn't involve fighting a bad guy. They were all worried about Zordon, but since they didn't have any good leads on where he was, Andros gave them the day off to relax. He and Elora would have joined them if they hadn't had have that shared vision this morning. The Rangers were ecstatic nonetheless to not have to worry about defending the city, for once. They could act like ordinary, normal people again, even if it was for one day. T.J. went off to the batting cage to get a few hits in. As a lifelong baseball fan, he had managed to keep track of what would become known as the Great Home Run Race between Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa, and McGuire was currently in the lead in that regard. The resident soccer head Carlos, meanwhile, still loved soccer, but since being assigned to the black color, he matured and kept more to himself. Not even a color change, however, could darken his love of soccer. He went to the field to talk to some of the children, like Niko, and get them in shape for the championships that were coming up. Carlos was also keeping an eye on the news of the FIFA World Cup that year, hoping that the U.S. would pull a miracle out of their butt and bring it home for once, even though France was shaping up to be the one to beat, especially since the French were also the host country to boot. Ashley and Cassie took the opportunity to do something they both loved-shopping. Ashley had wanted to let Elora join them as well, but realized that Andros had a point-her psychic abilities were in need of some fine-tuning. Cassie wanted Elora to come along as well, but she figured that there would be a next time.

True, Elora was already an expert at levitating objects with her mind alone (she didn't need to place a hand on her forehead and use the other to lift objects, like Andros did), which proved to be quite useful when they needed heavy objects moved and for another funny, but impractical, use-pranking Bulk and Skull. Elora never did like the pair (they had reminded her of the bullies back in her school in New Jersey), and there was also the problem that was a major thorn in her side, as they were very persistent on discovering their identities. Elora had told the Rangers when they came close to doing so and their identities would have been made public, if Skull hadn't fell into the swamp, ruining the tape in the cassette player he had at the time.

Ashley and Cassie also knew that Elora was an expert at Pyrokinesis, and they knew all too well what would happen if she got mad. Ecliptor, of course, was her victim at the time and he deserved what he got then as well.

It had only been a week after she received her new arm that Ecliptor attacked the Rangers. Elora, still smarting from having her right arm being chewed up and spat out like a chew toy, wanted to make sure that she would be the _last_ Ranger that would have to suffer like she did. Like her brethren before her, she was quick to enrage and even quicker to act upon it. They all had been morphed when Ecliptor felt the white-hot rage of the young demi goddess. Elora was forced to remove her helmet in order to save Andros's life.

"The legendary Purple Ranger is only a child? What utter nonsense!" mocked Ecliptor after having his shot deflected by her helmet and continued, "Is this mere _child_ so powerful that all who go against her are that damn scared? Oh please, give me a break! She is not that powerful as she seems!" he finished with a sarcastic laugh in his throat.

Those words were the straws that broke the camel's back.

"'Mere child'? Ecliptor you bastard! You'll be sorry you said that!" yelled Elora, her face contorted with rage. Ashley and the other former Turbo Rangers quickly realized that she was angry, and they pulled Andros to safety. Cassie managed to snatch her helmet up before Elora demonstrated her fire powers.

Andros had never seen Elora so angry before, but he realized that the other Rangers had. He turned his head to see the others just standing there in awe and then turned his head back at the scene that was unfolding before them.

Elora's long brown hair began to rise in the air and her hands were balled up into fists. Her eyes glowed white, as the air around her and Ecliptor grew hotter.

"Back off!" she shouted as Ecliptor was knocked off balance and landed on his rear end.

The temperature grew hotter with each step Elora took towards him, each step full of pure rage, unfettered and raw.

Ecliptor gasped for air and could only watch in horror as his sword melted before him.

"Welcome to my hell, Ecliptor. What's the matter, can't take the heat?" said Elora with a menacing tone in her voice. She stopped in her tracks only to look at the heap that Ecliptor had become.

He looked at her with fear written on his face, and was completely taken aback at how much she had changed in a matter of minutes. Her eyes were now pure white, filled with immense power. Her hair was flying all over the place and her face still looked calm, but still angry all the same. Her hands were still balled up into fists. Her suit, however, didn't look any different. He was amazed how her suit didn't just melt like his sword did.

Her right arm rose up and in her hand was a fireball, which she launched at him without hesitation.

The igniting ball of fire hit Ecliptor square in the face, taking a portion of his head off and leaving a crater behind him.

"Consider yourself, lucky. That would have killed you, if I wanted to," said Elora in the same menacing tone that made him quake with fear.

Attempting to get up on his feet, Ecliptor stumbled from the immense heat Elora gave off. Instead, she used her left hand to force him up.

"Face me, damn you! Or are you a chickenshit like all the other losers I've faced?" she shouted mockingly.

The warriors both got into a fighting stance and began their fight. Ecliptor couldn't land a single blow on her, but Elora had no problem beating the living daylights out of him. Much faster than any Ranger due to her training and fighting over the years, she seemed to be only a purple blur to Ecliptor.

Their fight was over in less than a minute.

"D-D-Damn you," gasped Ecliptor, holding his side in pain.

"That was payback for destroying my arm!" Elora shouted, her voice returning to normal.

Her appearance had returned to normal and the air temperature also returned to normal as well. Using her right arm, she seized him by the throat and threw him towards the nearest wall. Ecliptor hit the wall with such force that the wall itself was moved a good foot from its original position.

"Tell Astronema that it's gonna take more than that to kill me!" said Elora before she fell to her knees.

Ecliptor had severe burn marks from where Elora slammed her fists and feet while she was perfectly unscathed.

"Here Elora, your helmet," said Cassie as Andros helped her to her feet.

"No one's been able to defeat Ecliptor like that. How the hell did you do it?" asked Andros, still shocked to see Ecliptor getting his ass handed to him by the child goddess.

"Simple, man—he pissed me off, that's how," she deadpanned after putting her helmet on.

Ashley and Cassie continued their shopping, still remembering to not to _ever _get Elora angry, lest they end up like Ecliptor. They enjoyed going to the mall, something they haven't done in what seems like years. Still there was one benefit from not going so often—they had saved a lot of money as a result.

"Tell me something, Elora. How come you're a demi goddess and not a—"

"A full-fledged goddess? It's because my father Zeus has so many children and the Parthenon's full as it is, he wants me to find what I can be good at, and at this rate, it looks like I'll be a Goddess of Earth's Elements," said Elora, explaining her abilities to the red Ranger.

"That and maybe Goddess of Power Rangers," joked Andros. Noticing the quizzical look on her face, he added, "Oh come on, Elora. Look, you're the only one of us that's immortal and you're one of the most powerful Rangers. When I was on KO35, I heard of you and didn't believe it until I saw you in action," he finished reassuringly.

"Really, Andros?"

"Yeah, really. To be honest, I guess you've become like a little sister to me."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a second! Mr. Stubborn-As-A-Bull-I-Don't-Need-Any-Help considers me family? Who are you and what have you done with Andros?" replied a stunned Elora, completely shocked that their brooding leader actually cared about her like family.

"I'm being serious. You guys really grew on me," said Andros.

"Like Ashley did?" retorted Elora with a devilish grin on her face. Noticing the look on his face, she added, "What's the matter? Persian got your tongue?"

"I uh, I…oh fine," replied Andros, his face now matching his shirt in color. _Observant kid. She's good, _he thought.

"But you are serious, right? You think of me like I'm your sister?"

"Yeah, I'm serious. I can't wait for you to meet Karone when we find her," he said calmly.

"Sounds like she's pretty cool," said Elora and thought to herself, _I've already met her and one day you'll see her again._

"Anyway, that arm of yours seems to have adapted quite well, considering all of your powers and such," said Andros.

"Yeah, I guess so. Well, I haven't had any problems with it. And the skin's—"

"Your own. I'm surprised that we were able to salvage that and the muscle. Well, that's the wonder of technology from my home," he finished and continued, "If only Earth was that sophisticated."

"In about another decade or two, it will. Well, maybe not the whole using someone's skin again, but still."

"Well, anyway, move that crate, then," said Andros, redirecting their focus back to training.

"Alright," she said and used her mind to move it. The crate was very heavy itself, but she managed to move it regardless. Panting, she sat on the floor to catch her breath.

"Wow. That's the heaviest object you've moved so far. With practice it'll get easier," said Andros in amazement.

"That thing is just huge," remarked Elora. She got up, took a deep breath, exhaled and moved the object back with her mind. This time, it was easier to do, now that she had done it once.

"Like I said, it gets easier."

"True. It does."

"Moving it was the tough part. Now pick it up and keep it suspended for as long as you can, ok?"

"Um, ok, sure," said Elora nervously. They walked over to the same crate and Elora took a deep breath.

"By the way, use your arms like they're extensions of your mind."

"Fine."

Elora lifted her right arm and used her mind to lift the crate. The crate buckled and slowly lifted into the air. She struggled to keep it up there, her arms shaking violently to keep the crate off the ground for as long as possible.

_Wow, it's been a good minute and she hasn't caved in…that's longer than what I did the first time_, Andros thought to himself, _how long can she keep this up?_

Finally, after ten minutes, she couldn't hold it up anymore, and put the crate back on the floor gently.

"Here," he said, handing her a tissue.

She wiped the tissue on her nose and said, "Damn, I bled again, didn't I?"

"It'll get easier. Believe me, it will," said Andros calmly.

"I'll remember that," replied Elora.

Together they headed out of the cargo bay and to the mess hall. Andros still had a lot on his mind and it mainly concerned both the vision and his sister Karone (since he did talk about her a lot when the others were around). He believed her to be lost since they were children, or worse, even deceased. As they were heading back, he reflected on his initial meeting with the Earth Rangers. When he met Elora, she told him something that even now he refused to believe-Karone was indeed alive and she was now Astronema.

Andros only believed the first part, but the second part was even harder to swallow.

Ever since that first battle with a full team of Rangers by his side, he thought that the kid had her brain fried when the Power Chamber was destroyed. Suggesting that his sister was now his enemy?

"Bullshit," was his answer.

"It's not, I tell you! I see the family resemblance, you stubborn idiot!" was her retort.

"No, she's somewhere out there and there is no way that that bitch is my sister!"

"Dammit, Andros, she's your younger sister! That's no way to talk about your family!"

"She's not family to me! She's my enemy!"

"You bullheaded moron, yes she is! You's about as bullheaded as a rampaging Tauros!"

The former Turbo Rangers simply sighed and let the two of them hammer it out, explaining to their new leader that the purple Ranger often used the names of Pokémon in normal conversation and when she was mad.

"I guess you finally met someone who's just as stubborn as you, huh?" asked DECA, the ship's computer, during those first weeks after the new Rangers boarded the ship.

"Shut up, DECA," spat Andros, though he had to admit to himself that she had a point- Elora was one of the most stubborn kids he met in his life. And DECA was also right—she was just as bullheaded as him.

Their constant arguing continued for a week, and then Elora gave up trying to convince him.

"Oh, this is so pointless," said Elora, throwing her hands up into the air and continued, "I'm not going to get anywhere with you."

"Agreed," said Andros with just as much venom in his tone as she had in hers.

While he was reminiscing, Andros stopped paying attention to where he was going and walked right into the doorway of the mess hall, making a very loud bang on contact.

"OW!" he yelled, holding his head.

"Dude, did that knock any sense into you?" she joked.

"Not funny," snapped Andros.

"Oh let me see," she replied in a more serious tone. Andros moved his hands so Elora could assess the damage. "Tsk tsk tsk. I'll take care of that," and used her healing powers to cure him of the headache and removed the lump from his head. "There, all better now. Now let's grab some food," she finished in a satisfied tone while patting him on the shoulder.

Andros also realized that while she was indeed an expert at levitating objects, lifting heavy ones was hard, if not difficult for her at first. However, their constant training had resulted in Elora vastly improving the strength of her telekinetic abilities.

They got their meals and sat at the bench across from each other. As they began their lunch, Andros asked in between mouthfuls of food, "Now, perhaps again this week we can focus on your psychic powers again,"

"Like what?" she asked.

"Well, I think you should learn how to block attacks with your mind and to how to prevent your mind from being invaded or read," he responded nonchalantly.

"Do you think I really need to learn that?"

"To be honest, yeah you do. Look Elora, ever since we had that vision this morning and we saw that freak with the gas mask, I really think that you need to learn how to block your mind," he said with a slightly nervous tone in his voice.

Elora noticed this, raised an eyebrow and asked, "Can _you_ block your mind?"

Andros dropped his fork at the question. Blushing a deep scarlet, he admitted, "Um, no, not really."

"That's a surprise," she added flatly.

"B-But we can train each other, right?" he quickly added.

Elora thought it over and replied, "Good point. But what about invading another person's mind, though?"

"That part would be kind of tricky. I'm only saying that because you don't know what goes inside someone's head, though. You could end up in someone's memories, their actions, or somewhere else, and that's why it's difficult to literally invade a person's head like that. I get what you're saying, and you want to do it in order to learn what the enemy is thinking of doing. And, there's also the possibility that your enemy might even be expecting to get attacked in that kind of manner."

"So, it's possible, just a little tough to pull off, right?"

"Yep. But in case you ever face another psychic, you have to block your own mind while doing so."

"So, let me get this straight—if I want to hack another person's mind, I have to block my mind in the process?" she asked confusedly.

"Yeah, something like that," Andros replied, picked up his fork from the table and continued his meal. He had to admit that his explanation was a bit confusing, but as long as the young Ranger got the gist of it, he would have no problem improving both of their psychic powers in the meantime.

"Today is Monday June 22, 1998. The time is 12:00 P.M." announced the alarm clock sitting on Dr. Clark's desk. The doctor looked at the clock and looked at the coin that had been in the pocket of her jacket for the past few days. Not wanting to end up like Donald, she put the thick coin back in her pocket and decided to give it back to him before today's meeting. Finishing her glass of H20, she gathered the various medicines she planned to show the others at the meeting and set off to the office where Zero would announce his plans for the Power Ranger Goddess.

"Dr. Clark, how are you today?" asked a familiar voice from behind. Dr. Clark stopped in her tracks and turned to face the speaker. The speaker was wearing a dress shirt with a long black tie, wearing loafers and sleek sienna trousers. His skin matched the color of the trousers and his hair was short and neat. The man's face was slightly aged, but still looked like the youthful man she met thirty some odd years ago.

"Why, Donald, you look great. Are you sure you're feeling okay?" she asked in a worried tone.

"I'm feeling great today. By the way, the coin that was sitting on my desk, have you seen it? I thought it got destroyed along with my laptop."

"I have it, Don. Here you go," she said as she removed the coin from her pocket and handed it to him. She continued, "I took it because I wanted to look at it myself. But it's yours, though."

Sigint looked at her hand as she handed him the coin. The skin has aged considerably, and it also lost some of its color, almost matching her lab jacket that she always wore. He looked up at her face and noticed the hair color had become a grayish-red, but in the same style she always wore; always short.

"Oh, thank you, Para-Medic," he replied with a smile. He took the coin and pocketed it again.

They walked to the meeting room, accompanied by their friend. Their friend wore his own hair longer than the doctor did; only his was now a silvery blond. He had on his usual outfit: cowboy boots in a deep shade of sienna, business trousers like Anderson wore, and his top resembled something a person would wear in a western flick. Taking a drag from his cigar, he looked over to his comrades and said calmly, " Well, let's go, people. Zero won't wait forever for us."

"You're right, let's go," said Donald and the three of them walked together into the room. It would be the last time they would walk together in the same mindset.

"Welcome you three," said Zero in a friendly tone. They all took their seats at the table and their British leader simply said to them, "Well, the purpose of all the information that you have all read over will become clear soon enough." Zero ran a gnarled hand through what hair he had left on his head, also running his fingers over the scar on the right side of his face. Sighing, he continued, "I hope two days was enough for everybody to go over the information that Mr. Anderson worked so very hard to procure for us. Please begin, Mr. Anderson."

"Thank you, Major Zero," said Anderson as he got up out of his chair and walked over to the podium. Clearing his throat, he began, "Now, as many of you are aware, the person that all of this info regards is only a child. Her name is Elora Abbott and she's 11 years old. Elora is a demi goddess and is also an active Power Rangers. This group of Rangers is located in the city of Angel Grove, California. Despite the fact that she's only a child, Elora has immense power. From what I gathered before I was nearly killed, she is an expert of hydro and pyrokinesis and can also what she calls 'morph' other elements, like metal, lightning, wood, air, and earth. She can also generate ice as well. Her years as a Ranger have made her an extremely powerful warrior, and if we can get her to join us, maybe we can get one of these 'zords" to help unite the world as well."

"Just how long has this girl been a Ranger, Donald?" asked Zero curiously.

"She's been a Ranger ever since they first appeared five years ago," Anderson replied nonchalantly.

"Do continue, then."

"Thank you. Anyway, where was I? Oh yes. Her right arm is also quite interesting. The reason for this is because it's been replaced with a cybernetic one. Whether she can turn this arm of hers into a weapon based on her ability to manipulate metal remains to be seen," finished Anderson in a satisfied tone and he returned to his chair.

"Now Para-Medic, will you please present your findings?"

"Yes, Zero," said the doctor nervously as she rose from her chair and made her way to the podium. Clearing her throat, she began her speech with, "Now as you all have just heard from Donald, this child is someone that we usually wouldn't mess with. However, in order to do whatever we need to do, we'll need to use powerful tranquilizers. These," she said as she held up the syringes full of liquid and continued, "are powerful enough to kill ten humans. But since she's immortal, it will only just knock her out for several hours."

"May I speak, Zero?"

"Go ahead, Ocelot."

"Thank you. Now to restrain her, I have a special 'bed' for her to sleep. And don't worry, it'll hold her," he finished.

"That'll be all, doctor. Now I will tell you all why I had you do what you did," said Zero in a serious tone. She sat down back in her chair, relieved that she had done her speech. Zero approached the podium and pulled out a little plastic bag that had a piece of bloodstained cloth in it. "Now there's a reason why I gave you this work. This piece of cloth just happens to have some residual DNA on it. And no, it's not Big Boss's DNA. It's his son's."

"You mean Solid Snake, sir?"

"Yes, Anderson, I do. Anyhow, I've decided that it's time to continue the _Les Enfants Terrible_ project. But this time, the subject will be this child and by using gene therapy, Elora will carry Solid Snake's genes, making her his daughter," finished Zero.

The three of them were left completely stunned. Had he finally gone mental with age? Did he really mean what he said—to make this Ranger the _daughter_ of Solid Snake and in effect the _granddaughter_ of Big Boss?

The deafening silence lasted ten minutes. The others simply looked at each other, each of them having the same look of shock on their faces.

It was Dr. Clark, however, that broke the deep silence.

"Zero, are you suggesting that I subject her to gene therapy? It's really dangerous, Zero. No one who's undergone it has lived! She'll be horribly scarred and she'll want to kill us!" yelled Dr. Clark, slamming her fist into the table at the end of her last sentence.

"Dr. Clark, do you want a united world or not? If this succeeds, and it will, you will finally be given the glory you have sought for years, and you'll be honored with creating a new super soldier, one that will carry Big Boss's bloodline for all of eternity," scolded Zero. He was not too happy to hear that she disagreed with him.

"Zero, she has a point. No one has really lived beyond the first few hours of undergoing gene therapy. However, how do you suggest—"

"That she go about it, Ocelot? Simple. Gather Solid Snake's DNA from this piece of cloth, take a sample of Elora's DNA, add his genes to her paternal genes and then inject it back into her. Simple, see?"

"'Simple?' You think that extracting a piece of DNA from some article of clothing that's over three years old is 'simple?'" snapped the woman, her temper rising at what Zero was implying wouldn't be tough to pull off.

"Where _did_ you get that, anyway?" asked Anderson, quickly changing the subject.

"I got this at Outer Heaven," Zero replied, shaking the bag.

Sighing to herself, Dr. Clark said, "Fine, Zero. But it'll take a couple of days before I get even get a fraction of that DNA."

"Do it, then. Put it in a water-based liquid as well."

"But how are we going to capture her? She won't come quietly," said Ocelot.

"That's where you come in, my friend," replied Zero, and continued, "You are to shoot her with knockout bullets and bring her to us. Be ready to bring her here by the end of the week."

"Yes, sir."

"And all of you, be careful. Dismissed," said Zero, and they all left the room.

_That's it; I'm finished with the lot of them, _Ocelot thought miserably. Now he fully understood everything that was in that folder and why Zero had a piece of cloth—they were going to turn a Power Ranger into a member of the Patriots by force, only using Solid Snake's DNA instead, _and try to conquer the world with the Power Rangers? I'm done with him, and now the Patriots will be split in half…_ he continued to think to himself. But before he left for good, he decided to only leave _after_ Dr. Clark finished whatever she had to do to the child Ranger. Arriving back to his quarters, he threw the folder onto his desk and pulled out a gun from the top drawer.

"Hmm, this gun, the Mk22, a tranquilizer gun, she'll never hear it go off," he said as he began attaching a long slim barrel to the muzzle of the gun. "This is the last thing I do for you, Zero, the very last, you greedy old bastard," Ocelot said to himself as he proceeded to modify the gun for his mission. After attaching the suppressor to the muzzle, he looked around and realized that it wouldn't take him long to pack up and leave—they would never notice his disappearance. The other three would probably assume that the Ranger had killed him in all likelihood. He realized that he'd need a decent-sized bag to load it and run. "I'll have to get one this week, then," he said in a calm tone. He then put the gun away and stepped out again to grab something to eat.

"Today is Monday June 22, 1998. The time is 1:00 P.M.," said his alarm clock in the same robotic tone it always did.

"And you won't have much longer, either" said Ocelot, pointing to his clock, not expecting a response, but all the same he meant that it would shut up in a few days, when Ocelot would leave the Patriots forever.

Elora woke up the next morning, back in her room and feeling a lot better than the day before. Her Magic the Gathering deck was on the nightstand in a slightly disheveled pile, along with a big binder full of Pokémon cards. Her head was a lot clearer as well.

"The time is 10:17 A.M., Eastern Standard Time. It's past your usual time," she heard DECA say. DECA had noticed that as summer arrived, Elora often woke up later.

"It's summer time, DECA. I don't wake up early unless I have to," said Elora nonchalantly to the ship. She got up anyway, and proceeded to get dressed. Walking to the mess hall to grab breakfast, she thought of how she had to tell Andros about the time difference the first time, since DECA's clock had been programmed for Pacific Standard Time, and Elora followed _Eastern_ Standard Time, a three-hour difference.

"Hey guys," Elora said tiredly and waving her right arm weakly. Yawning, she walked over to the machine to get some food. Sitting down at the table, she began her breakfast. The others were also as tired as she was, but they realized that she was still probably suffering from jet lag as well.

"Still adjusting to getting up late?" asked Ashley. She was enjoying her pancakes and orange juice and had noticed that Elora had circles under her eyes.

"Oh yeah? I'd like to see you live in New Jersey, get used to the time there, and get up to what you think and feel is standard time, while the ship is set three hours back. If you can do that, then you can say something," Elora snapped back, pointing her spoon at Ashley.

That was a problem for the Rangers—Elora lived in New Jersey and followed Eastern Standard Time, while the others followed Pacific Standard Time.

Still, she had learned to adjust to the time change. And she could also perform some spells as well to help hide the fact that she was both a demi goddess and a Ranger—by creating a clone.

Unlike other clones, Elora could make a perfect copy of herself. She also needed to practice using the Cloning Charm (as she called it) since she had received her new arm last month. Her clone _had _to be perfect, so no one would be the wiser. In order to achieve such perfection, Elora practiced often, simply dissolving clones that didn't come out right, and analyzing where she went wrong in the imperfect clone. Once her clone was no longer needed, Elora simply teleported to where her clone was and destroy it, taking in all the information the clone had learned while it was around.

The one clone that was perfect the first time Elora finally got it right, however, lived her life in New Jersey, obeying the original's orders to act normal.

Elora thought of that clone and a terrible realization occurred to her—she'd have to make a new one and dispose of the current one, and it was all because of her new cybernetic arm.

After finishing her breakfast, she went back to her room and laid back on her bed, realizing that it might take her a good week to make another perfect clone, this one with the cybernetic arm.

True, she was grateful to have it, but it forever changed her as well.

Elora reflected on the events of that fateful day after breakfast: Zeus, high above the world of humans on Mount Olympus, flew into a rage when he heard that his daughter had suffered an injury so bad that even Athena might not be able to heal it. And he was even madder still when he heard how it happened. Known to have a terrible temper, he stormed from Olympus and encountered the Rangers as they carried Elora back to the ship, demanding an explanation. But instead he joined them and tried as he might, he couldn't heal the damage that was done by Ecliptor. Athena was summoned from Athens and she was no help, either.

Andros was the one who made the call that would either help or hurt the child goddess: amputation.

Elora blanched when he mentioned it, and the others weren't too happy at him, either.

"It has to be done. That sword of his isn't from Earth!" yelled Andros angrily at Zeus.

"Who the hell are you, a _mortal_, yelling at the King of the Gods?" Zeus fired back, pointing a finger at the red Ranger's chest.

"I may only be a _mortal_, Zeus, but I'm her friend, that's who!" Andros snapped back, slapping Zeus's hand away from him.

"She's been hurt enough, boy! She doesn't need to go through anymore pain!"

"No shit! I was there and I saw what that son of a bitch did to her! She saved my fucking life, you old ignorant fool!"

"ENOUGH!" Elora bellowed vehemently. They all turned and saw her standing, holding her now useless arm. Carlos held onto her good arm to make sure she didn't fall. She was also angry, but her anger was directed at both her father and her friend. "Both of you shut the fuck up. I hurt like hell right now, ok? Andros, do it. Cut off my arm," Elora said, and the others could tell that it was with great pain that she gave him the go-ahead to amputate the arm. Carlos helped her onto the bed and the girls helped remove the jacket, the right arm all torn to shreds and bloodied. Her shirtsleeve, also just as cut up and bloody, had also been rolled up to her shoulder. T.J. took hold of the dead limb and straightened it out, so the scar that would be left behind would be partially hidden under the armpit. Elora summoned the Power Sword, Jason's sword in fact, and handed it to Andros to perform the act.

Before the deed was done, Elora passed out from the searing pain.

And it was a good thing too that she passed out when she did, for when Andros did a downward slice to remove her arm, she bled out a little, but her body, now recognizing that the dead limb was gone, began to stop the blood flow. But the now-gaping wound would not close, recognizing that the skin and the muscle had not been lost after all, but the nerves, blood vessels and the bone were damaged beyond repair.

"Give…me…a…new arm," said Elora painfully, before passing out again.

"I know what to do," said Andros as he turned on his heel and left the room. Athena instinctively began cleaning the wound, making sure that all debris had been washed away. She looked at the wound and realized that the blood vessels had simply closed up, but the rest of the wound was still open. The hole still pulsated, albeit slowly. _Elora must have slowed her heartbeat somehow…_Athena thought to herself. _She must have started to practice yoga. Smart girl…_and Athena continued her thoughts in this vein about her baby sister until Andros returned a few minutes later.

"What is that?" asked T.J, pointing to the metallic object Andros had in his hands.

"A cybernetic arm formulated by my home planet. I can attach it to her—"

"Andros, the skin and the muscles are still intact. The blood vessels, nerves and the bone are dead, though," interrupted Athena, "I can sense some life left in the skin and muscle tissue, but we have to act fast or they'll die as well."

"Alright, we can still do this," said Andros.

"Need my help, sis?" said another man who had appeared suddenly. This man was a head taller than Andros, and his skin had a rich golden tan. His hair was a dark blonde and his eyes were a stormy blue. When he smiled to his sisters, father and the other Rangers, it was a mega-watt smile. He was built like a bodybuilder and his tunic, pants and boots were as white as Earth's sun itself.

"Quit showing off and help Andros with Elora's arm," snapped Athena, ignoring her brother's sudden appearance.

"All right, then," he replied. Walking over to Andros, he took the cybernetic arm and the remains of Elora's arm and merged the two together instantly. The dead tissue was placed in the trashcan as well. "There you go, now just attach—"

"Not so fast, Sun Lord," said an unimpressed Andros. His arms were folded and his eyebrows were furrowed in an angry expression. "Elora needs something to go over that wound in order to attach that arm, Apollo. Sometimes I think Earth's sun fried your brain centuries ago," he snapped at Apollo.

"Alright, alright, sheesh. You mortals really need to lighten up a bit," retorted the Sun God. He handed the arm back to Andros and walked over to his sisters. One look at his youngest sister told him all he needed to know about why her arm was thrashed; it had been one amazing battle. He proceeded to create a plate for the bionic arm to fit into, with sockets and holes for the new tubing, wiring, bone, and for the rest of the muscle and skin to attach to. Picking up his new creation, Athena stepped aside for Apollo to do his work.

While he was helping Elora, Athena and Zeus both explained to Andros about Apollo's lesser known attribute: his healing powers and his incredible knowledge medicine.

Apollo struggled to get it to fit right for two reasons; one, it had to be able to grow with Elora as she got older, and two it could not cause any pain to her, therefore it plate also had to be comfortable. His hands all bloody from making it fit right, he walked over to the nearby sink to wash his hands and arms. Andros handed him the arm and Apollo went about to attach it to her shoulder and healed the cut Andros made earlier.

Once the arm was attached and Apollo did his job, her body took over and gave the new arm life. The limb twitched violently, immediately accepting the changes that it had undergone, and Elora groaned in pain as her body accepted the arm as living tissue once more. The limb stopped twitching and Elora sat up in a drenching cold sweat. Carlos and T.J. stood by, just in case she decided to stand on her own. Moving her arm around, she was pleased that it still moved the same as before.

"Thanks, guys," she panted. Then she passed out again, only this time it was from the stress of having her arm removed, replaced and reattached.

"Well, let's get going back to Olympus," said Zeus.

"Thanks for helping us out," said Cassie.

"Anytime," replied Apollo.

"Elora, the time is 12 noon Eastern Standard Time. You ok?" said DECA. Hearing her voice made Elora jump up, hitting her head against the top of her bunk.

"Ow!" she yelled, holding her head. Elora realized that she ended up falling asleep as she reminisced. "You have a heck of a way of telling the time," she grumbled, "but thanks anyway."

Elora got out of her bed and walked over to the mirror in her room. "Damn, this is gonna look real nice," she said to her reflection sarcastically. Her forehead now bore a decent sized bump where she banged her head. Placing her right hand over the bump, she used her powers to heal the damage she did to herself. Removing her hand, her forehead was back to normal. Smiling back at her reflection, she turned on her heel and left her room, making her way back to the Training Room.

I thought this chapter was good. You definitely did a better job grammatically. Your word choice seems to be more diverse than the previous chapter. I suggest adding more descriptive words to make the action scenes more alive. Over all, I thought it was a well written chapter. The flow of the story is very good. I suggest that Carlos have several lines in Spanish. I think it would be funny if he spoke in Spanish when he was mad. Anyway, it is just a suggestion that I have. I would elaborate more on the scenes when Elora reflects of her old life in New Jersey. Simply, add a little more detail of how her ;life use to be in NJ. Furthermore, have Andros flashback to his childhood attempts to suspending objects in midair.


	3. Not the Usual Suspects

Author's Notes: Okay, here's chapter 3! Again, this used to be part 3 of the old chapter 1 (Yeah I know, but it was worse before. Believe me.) and after some editing and all that, it's ready to roll! Also, I will say this: things are about to get interesting from here on out. This chapter presents the purple Ranger's primary abilities, here, along with a typical battle (hey, it's a Power Rangers fic, so that's a given, I think *shrug* ) with some not-so-typical consequences. Oh, and for those of you curious as to how Poison-Stripes got that scar, read this chapter, then. I'll spare you the gory details, however.

And yes I used a Constantine reference. What? I was watching the movie around the time I wrote this, so shoot me.

Okay okay, enough, I know. Enjoy the chapter, y'all.

**A Snake Among Rangers**

Chapter 3: Not the Usual Suspects

"Let's see, I need some water, dirt, wood, and some metal," she said to the screen.

"Going to practice some more element manipulation?" replied DECA calmly.

"Why, yes, DECA. I can summon fire, and there's air on the ship, and also make sure that the ship stays safe. Andros would hang me from the tallest tree in Vineland if I destroy you by accident."

"True," she replied jokingly. DECA made the necessary adjustments, and Elora walked in the room with a determined look on her face.

"Hmm, I think I'll try the wood first, today," Elora said to herself. Looking around, she saw pieces of wood, a barrel of water, a small pile of dirt, and another pile of scrap metal. Walking over to the woodpile, she lifted her left arm and, in turn, so did a piece of wood. She used her hand to form the wood into a ball. But the ball wasn't perfect, however. There were numerous sharp edges sticking out in places. But this time it was round, at least. Sighing to herself, she turned the sticky ball into a stick once more, closed her eyes, and pictured a round wooden ball in her mind, and focused on making the stick into the image she saw in her head. The wood slowly formed back into its previous shape, but this time was different; this time Elora got it right. Opening her eyes, she was thrilled that she had succeeded. Placing the wooden ball down onto the floor, she picked up another plank and repeated what she did. In a matter of twenty minutes, she had succeeded in turning all of the wood into balls, and had also practiced turning the wood into deadly projectiles, shields, weapons and other objects.

Thrilled with the progress she had made with the wood element, she walked over to the barrel. Lifting her hands into the air, she had summoned a wall of water. The wall stayed in place as she kept her hands up. The water moved in perfect timing with the movement of her arms. She repeated the process of forming various objects with the water she had. Elora also managed to get some target practice as well, using both the wood and the water as her weapons. There was one thing that she found out over the years; with certain elements, she had to implement different moves. With the water, she found that she could move gently and still pack a punch.

Again, she was satisfied with the progress in hydrokinesis, that she moved on to the dirt mound to her right. Summoning a ball of dirt with her right hand, she proceeded to mold it into various shapes, and used more forceful movements to practice attacks using the earth element. She also practiced using earth columns to launch herself into the air. Enjoying the sensation of flying into the air made practicing her elemental abilities with her cybernetic arm all the more enjoyable. As she descended back to the ground, she moved her arms in a circular motion to make an air cushion for her to land on.

Feeling elated with her improved abilities, she walked over to the pile of metal. Andros had told her that she was free to practice with the scrap metal he had lying around on the Astro Megaship for years. Andros didn't care either way; as long as it was getting used, he let her do whatever she wanted to it. Elora was a bit apprehensive with metal, since her arm was also made of metal, albeit covered in her own skin. But she wanted to morph metal again, regardless. Picking up a small piece of metal, she formed a ball and preceded to morph the rest into various objects and weapons. She also moved her body in the same forceful way as before in order to fight using her metal morphing, since she knew metal also came from the ground as well and that there were some pieces of earth in unrefined metal.

Thrilled to have used metal again in a month, she practiced summoning and controlling fire once more. This was by far her favorite element to use. She loved using all the elements equally, but for some reason, morphing fire came naturally to her. If anything, what she did to Ecliptor was evident that she was a true master at using fire. After a few minutes, happy that she still had the knack for morphing this volatile element, she sat down, closed her eyes and folded her legs. Taking a deep breath, she cleared her mind.

She stayed this still for ten minutes.

After her mind was calm, she opened her eyes and stood up. With a focused look in her eyes, she threw her right arm forward and out came a lightning bolt from her right hand. She quickly repeated this with more, even faster movements, as more lightning, each bolt more powerful than the previous one, emanated from her hands and feet. She proceeded to form balls of lighting in her bare hands and launched them with deadly proficiency. Taking another deep breath, she did a running jump, performed three somersaults, and upon landing, launched a powerful lightning bolt by clapping her hands together. For her, lightning was her second most favorite element to morph to her will. It was the most powerful element to control, and it was her father Zeus who helped her learn to control lightning bolts at a young age. He left her to train on her own a couple of years ago, but Elora enjoyed lightning morphing almost as much as using pyrokinesis. This required her to have a clear mind, with no distractions in her way, however. She continued in this vein of running, jumping and manipulating lightning for another twenty minutes, until she felt satisfied that no matter what element she controlled, her right arm would never fail her.

Panting, she sat back on the ground until her breathing and her heart rate both returned to normal. There was one more thing that she just _had_ to do: she had to see if she could transform her arms once more into the two most deadly weapons that she, the female purple Ranger, was best known for.

What she was known for was using her forearms as weapons, but not just any weapons. These weapons were called her "arm swords" and were by far the most deadly and most intriguing of all her abilities. It didn't matter whether or not she was morphed in her suit. The Rangers themselves were grateful that she discovered this ability on a whim, when she was just starting out as a Ranger. Her previous teammates were all grateful for her ability to summon twin swords and use them like any great swordsman in history. T.J., Ashley, Carlos and Cassie were also happy that she could block anything thrown at her and launch them back at the enemy. Andros was shocked to see this at first, but in time realized that without this ability, he would have been the one cut to ribbons instead of Elora, who blocked the first attack and stood in between him and Ecliptor.

Elora held out her arms and proudly called out, "Arm swords!" and her forearms transformed into four-feet long katanas. She preferred katanas to medieval style swords for efficiency purposes, and because regular swords would slow her down as she ran. This time, she felt the skin, muscles, and bone stretch and turn into the long blades that samurai used centuries ago. Once the transformation was complete, she ran with them, acting as if she was holding two swords in her hands instead of her hands being part of the swords. DECA responded by providing attacking enemies and various targets all over the training room. Elora easily cut a swath through them all. She also practiced various styles of fighting and moving with such grace and agility that even she was surprised that her new arm, now that it was transformed, hadn't hindered her movement once.

Feeling better than she ever had since her arm was restored, she transformed her arms again to their previous state. Panting heavily, she walked out of the room while DECA cleaned up, restoring the room to its previous state as well.

"Hey, here she comes," said T.J. to the others as Elora walked in, beaming.

"Hi, guys," Elora replied.

"I hope that your arm isn't giving you any problems," said Andros.

"Nope. In fact it's adapted quite well. I've had no problems and all my powers work just fine," Elora said to Andros in an excited tone. She proceeded to tell them that she was just thrilled and happy that her self-imposed ban on using her powers was lifted and her arm was just as good as ever. The others were glad to hear this from her. It meant that she would still be as powerful as she had ever been in battle.

"It's old, but I can do it," Dr. Clark said to herself. Now that she had the source of the DNA, extracting it was the main challenge. This would keep her busy for two days. She did numerous tests on it, and from the dried blood on the cloth, found some that was still viable. She carefully used a pair of tweezers to place an even smaller piece that had usable DNA into a Petri Dish, covered it and set it aside. There was also another source of DNA that she needed: the child Ranger's. Hers was vital for the creation of a super soldier, and if it worked, then they could clone her and create more like her. Her heart raced at the very thought of a whole army of immortal soldiers, bent on uniting the world and bringing about world peace once and for all.

But getting the child here was going to be a challenge, in more ways than one.

For one, the person in question was also a Power Ranger, and two, she was a demigoddess, and so capturing her without inflicting harm was going to be damn near impossible. Dr. Clark knew that she would fight like hell to avoid capture.

This was where Ocelot came in.

Ocelot had been in the Spetsnaz back in the '60s, and he was an excellent marksman. Adamska had betrayed the NSA and defected to Russia back then, under orders from the CIA. His parents were two very famous soldiers, and they were also members of the Cobra Unit. His father was The Sorrow, a gifted medium and his mother was The Boss, the leader of the Cobras, and also the mother of the U.S. Special Forces. But it was another man who accidentally helped Ocelot become a better marksman: Big Boss himself.

They had met in 1964, and Ocelot fell in love with using revolvers. They eventually became his trademark weapon, and he won numerous awards at gun shows for his skills. His favorite gun was a Colt Single Action Army revolver. The fact that the bullets ricocheted was a bonus, and that it packed enough firepower to take down any kind of target.

It was also a former commander, however, that sparked his other interest; torturing pleased him as much as using a revolver. Initially, though, he hated it.

"At first, I didn't like it. But now, I feel different. Torture is the ultimate form of expression," he said to Big Boss back then. Ocelot still felt that way, even now. Torturing her would be most enjoyable, and he had a bed for her to lie on, except this bed was all metal.

It had restraints for feet and arms, and he also had a machine hooked up to it, for interrogation purposes, of course. All Ocelot had to do was to fire up the machine, which in turn would deliver an electrical shock to the victim for a period of time. One shock was enough to get the person to cooperate. But for more stubborn victims, two or more were necessary. To Ocelot, there was no such thing as "overkill," and several times he almost killed the person he was interrogating by accident. But, he doubted that once he had Elora in his clutches, she would die during "interrogation."

Another reason that he was chosen to subdue her was because he was an excellent shot. Para-Medic gave him an MK22 to knock her out. That particular gun was hers, but she had no use for it herself. It was a tranquilizer gun and Ocelot had attached a new suppressor to the business end, so no one would hear it go off.

After a couple of days, Dr. Clark had done it. Feeling satisfied that she had done what many of her peers thought was impossible, she walked out of her office towards Zero's office to tell him that her part was complete.

All Ocelot had to do now was to get the girl here to their facility.

Their facility was located in the same city as the one the Rangers were fighting evil in—in Angel Grove. The facility looked like an old abandoned warehouse, but in reality, it hid a lake and a submarine. The warehouse was just a clever ruse, and it had taken many a hit over the years during the many battles the Power Rangers had with various enemies. No one, not even Elora, suspected it was anything but a rundown building in Angel Grove's business district.

Two days passed without further incident, during which the Rangers fought a couple of monsters in Angel Grove, but to Elora, they were quite dull. She had grown tired of beating up run-of-the-mill jerks. There were some, however, that did prove challenging, like Maligore, for one. However, that was only last year. Still, Elora had to hand it to Astronema. Ecliptor was indeed tough. In their downtime, the Rangers practiced various moves and often played basketball in the Holo Room. Other times, Elora found herself playing Pokémon Red on her Game Boy, and succeeded in capturing Mewtwo. Andros did keep his promise with Elora, for they practiced both blocking and invading each other's minds. Elora had no problem invading his mind, and neither did Andros in invading hers as well. They both had learned _very _quickly to block their minds from attacks.

"Today is Thursday, June 25. The current time is now 9:00 A.M.," said DECA the following morning. The Rangers woke up that morning as usual. Elora, however, felt that something was wrong, but couldn't place a finger on what it was. _My evil sense is acting up. Oh well. It's probably nothing, _she thought as she walked to the mess hall to grab some food.

"Black coffee with two ice cubes, a bowl of my usual cereal with milk, a banana and an apple," she said flatly to the machine.

"What kind of coffee?" the machine asked.

"Very funny. You know what kind," retorted Elora. The machine created her meal, and Elora took her tray, sat down on the bench and started her meal. The others were also eating breakfast. They all had eaten and were dressed when the signal came.

"Well, so much for relaxing today, guys," moaned Cassie. The others hated that sound, but nevertheless they ran to where their tubes were. Each Ranger jumped into his or her own tube, quickly morphing into their suits, and they all landed together in the middle of a desert on Earth.

"Galaxy Glider, hang ten!" they called out together. Hopping onto the colored surfboards that they used to get around, they rode them across the desert and through downtown Angel Grove.

"Where we heading?" asked Elora.

"Angel Grove High School," replied Carlos, "The school's closed, but it seems like there's trouble over there."

"Who is it?" asked T.J.

"Elgar," replied Ashley.

"Not that idiot," said Andros.

"My feelings exactly," said Elora flatly, as they all rode on their gliders towards Angel Grove High, not too thrilled to be facing a complete cone-headed dipstick like Elgar.

"Well, well, well, it's the furball with the giant scorpion tail. What a joke," said a cyborg wielding a sword that matched his appearance.

"You're the joke, Ecliptor!" snarled a woman back at him. Her huge, black scorpion tail was dripping poison from its stinger, signaling her anger.

"Now calm down, Poison-Stripes. I promise to make your demise quick," replied Ecliptor in a disturbingly calm tone.

"Not if I kill you first!" she yelled back. "Flute sword!" Poison-Stripes called out, a long katana blade forming from the end of head joint of her silver-plated flute.

"How pathetic. Die, you damn striped bitch! I will see to it that you will not live to see another sunset!"

"You first, you bastard!"

Poison-Stripes and Ecliptor began to charge each other, swords drawn toward each other, her tail flailing wildly.

"This is it, everyone. We put our plan into action," said Zero firmly in the meeting room as he addressed his comrades.

"Yes, sir," they said in unison.

"It's time, people. Ocelot, you know what to do. Now go."

"With pleasure," Ocelot responded as he stood up. He walked out of the room, gun in hand to do his assignment.

"Well, if it isn't you Power pukes," came a male voice in an oily tone.

"Shut the hell up, Elgar. What are you doing here?" asked Cassie.

"Didn't we see enough of you last time?" Carlos said in an annoyed tone.

"I see you're not in the greatest of moods, then. Oh well. This will be short, then. Quantrons, kill them!" Elgar shouted as a group of foot soldiers wearing silver and black spandex uniforms appeared. They were each carrying double bladed weapons and prepared to attack the Rangers.

"Not these things again," said Ashley disappointedly. She never did look forward to fighting them, and found that they were really pathetic against her and the other Rangers. The Quantrons charged at them, while Elgar sneaked around the back of the school to plant charges.

"Oh no you don't! Get back here Elgar!" shouted Elora as she fought off a couple of the robotic claybrains, as she called them, and followed Elgar in hot pursuit, her blaster in hand and ready to fire.

"Damn you, you bitch!" shouted Ecliptor as Poison-Stripes landed another blow, this time in the groin.

"Tough shit, asshole. That's what happens when you face me!" she yelled back as she swung her sword towards Ecliptor, her face now cut open and blood flowing without restraint.

Ecliptor moved just in time to avoid her sword hitting him in the back. He swung his sword as well, but he only caught her silver pant leg and tore a hole in it. Shocked that her jeans now had a hole in the leg, Poison-Stripes didn't see that someone else had joined the battle as well. Cursing at Ecliptor, she ran towards him, sword in hand, and was prepared to knock him into next week until she felt a hand hit her in her stomach.

"You…bastard," she panted out before collapsing to the ground, dropping her sword, holding her stomach in pain and trying to catch her breath.

"Finish her off. I have to go to school," said Ecliptor to a man in gold armor.

"With pleasure," came the reply in a gruff tone. Ecliptor immediately turned on his heel and left to join Elgar.

"No, it can't be you," said Poison-Stripes in a worried tone and continued, "and here I thought that you were back in Rita's good graces." She got back on her feet, picked up her sword off of the ground, and faced her new adversary. Poison-Stripes tore a piece of her black shirt off and wrapped it around the right side of her head to stop the bleeding from the cut on her face. She was furious to see this monster once more. Goldar had returned.

Ecliptor had given her that scar, right before Goldar made his reappearance.

Goldar disappeared after the Machine Empire came to Earth, and from what she overheard from Bulk and Skull, Goldar and Rito Revolto had suffered from amnesia, but Lord Zedd and Rita found them and made them return. But, other than that, no one had heard of their current whereabouts, save for Andros prior to meeting the Turbo Rangers.

His sudden appearance caught her off-guard, even more so thanks to that sucker punch to her gut.

"You've got balls, you lion-faced jerk, showing up like that and socking me. Well, you never were that bright," snapped the hybrid warrior at him, now trying to ignore the pounding in her head from the cut.

"You and I, we have a score to settle, little girl," Goldar retorted.

"Indeed we do. And, now I have to kick Ecliptor's ass for scarring my face. But, unlike Lipsyncher, _I_ don't mind having my face cut!" she growled as she charged towards him in a furious rage.

Goldar also ran towards her, and as their eyes met, their swords clanged and the reverberating force was enough to knock him off of his feet. Getting up, he charged towards her again, but his fist failed to connect to her face. Hers did connect with his, however, and Goldar was sent into the air and landed ten feet away from her.

"What the hell brings your ass back to Angel Grove? I thought that Zedd and Rita took you back with open arms to help defeat the Machine Empire, or were my sources wrong, Goldy?" she said mockingly, the right of her face and her whiskers covered in blood.

"No, they weren't wrong. Dark Specter asked me to come here and to help kill the Rangers and you," replied Goldar with a vile tone in his voice.

Not amused at his answer, Poison-Stripes rolled her good eye and retorted, "Oh, you mean that Maligore look-alike. Oh please, _he _sent you here to do his dirty work? Give me a damn break, Goldy. Seems to me that you're only a lowly henchman, now."

"Why, you little bitch! You'll pay for that! And quit calling me 'Goldy'!" yelled Goldar angrily as he got to his feet.

"Fine, but it's your funeral!" she yelled back as she ran towards him with her sword in her hands.

"Fucking Rangers!" shouted Elgar in frustration. Even with the Quantrons keeping them at bay, Elgar was losing this battle, and losing it badly. "My aunt's gonna have my hide!"

"Not our problem," said Elora, as she finally broke free of a Quantron's grip and launched a right hook onto Elgar's face.

"You little punk!" came his retort as he tried to hit her in the stomach, but missed by a good two feet.

"You robotic claybrains, take this!" she shouted as she summoned a volley of lightning bolts by clapping her hands together. The bolts struck the Quantrons with such power that they dropped their weapons and fell to the ground in one big heap.

"Damn!" shouted Elgar at the Rangers. As he was about to make another attempt at striking the youngest Ranger, Ecliptor appeared in front of him.

"Get out of here, you idiot. These Rangers are mine," he barked.

"I was about to—"

"Get your ass kicked again? Fat chance," finished Ecliptor.

"This isn't over yet, Rangers," said Elgar as he disappeared.

"He's got that right," said Carlos.

"Elora, go take care of those bombs, we'll handle him," said Andros.

"You sure about that?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Fine, but be careful!" said Elora as she ran behind the school to dispose of the bombs.

"Well, I see it's going to be just you five punks, then," noted Ecliptor sarcastically.

"We've got to give her enough time to disable those things," said T.J. to the other Rangers.

"He's right, Andros," said Cassie.

"Okay, guys. Let's go!" said Andros as the five of them charged Ecliptor at once.

"Let's see, about ten. Okay, I can do this," Elora said to herself reassuringly, counting how many bombs there were on the school grounds. Walking towards the first bomb, she was surprised that it was a normal bomb.

Something in the pit of her stomach told her that this would not bode well for either side, once she saw that it was a real, live bomb; a bomb that the US military would use, not some dumb idiot henchman of Divatox's.

"What the hell? This is a claymore! Oh man, there's no flipping way that Elgar got real bombs. He's too stupid," said Elora worriedly. The small olive green square mine sat in front of her. She blanched underneath her helmet, thinking of how to disarm it, when she saw something next to it that made her heart leap.

It was the detonator. Elgar was apparently stupid enough to leave that behind.

"Jeez, he really _is _an idiot. Now I feel better," she said to herself. Stepping a few feet back from the anti-personnel mine, she moved her arms in such a manner that the wind picked up all of the mines, and stomping her right foot into the ground, a platform of dirt came up from the ground. She moved her hands forcefully and formed a ball with her hands and the ground did the same, forming a ball around the mines. She used her right arm to lift the ball into the air, used dirt platforms to jump into the air, high above the school and used her left arm to launch a fireball at it, destroying the mines and the earth ball surrounding them. She then summoned a wind to blow away the debris as she landed gently on the ground.

Satisfied that she had saved the school, she began to make her way around to the front of the school to help the Rangers beat Ecliptor, until she heard an older man clapping behind her and laughing. Stopping in her tracks, she turned around, pulled out her blaster without hesitation and had it aimed at the man.

"Who the hell are you, and what brings you here to Angel Grove? I suggest that you get out of here while you can," said Elora in a firm tone. She immediately knew that this man was not here to chitchat.

"I must say you have a point about that bumbling eggheaded idiot. I'm the one who planted those mines. And I'm very impressed to see you get rid of them like that," said the man, who had begun to smoke a cigar.

"You can't smoke here. You're on school grounds!" Elora snapped back, never losing her sight of this stranger.

"School's not in session, though, young Ranger. And you're coming with me, now," said the man, putting out his cigar. Then he pulled out a silver plated gun and aimed it at her.

"A revolver, huh? That won't work on me. And I'm not going anywhere with you, you western movie reject," snapped Elora, still keeping her gun pointed at him. Every fiber of her being told her to shoot this man, but her years as a Ranger kept her hand steady, for she had never encountered a situation where a _human_ wanted to kill a Ranger. Still, there was a first time for everything, and if she had to kill him, she would, without hesitation. "Now answer my question. Who are you, and what business do you have here?" she demanded angrily.

"Fine, since you asked so _nicely_. My name is Revolver Ocelot. I have a preference for revolvers, like this one you see me holding, and I'm here to bring you back for research," he finished with a satisfied tone.

"Research? Yeah, right. You're no better than half of the lowlife bumbling assholes I've faced over the years," came her retort.

"I'm to bring you back alive, kid," said Ocelot, changing the tone in his voice to a more serious one, flicking his Russian to the ground, and continued, "but since you won't come quietly, I guess I'll have to rough you up a bit."  
"We'll see about that, Ocelot," said Elora, furrowing her eyebrows underneath her helmet, and getting ready to take aim and fire.

"That's the real one!" shouted Ashley, pointing at the clone of Ecliptor next to Andros.

"Stupid bitch!" shouted Ecliptor, furious that the yellow Ranger had found him. He found that only the yellow and purple Rangers could spot the real one whenever Ecliptor decided to clone himself and screw with their heads.

And he also found it quite annoying.

"Take this!" Andros yelled, landing a blow on his jaw.

"Andros, look out!"

"Huh? Oof!" Andros hadn't seen where T.J. yelled and felt a metal fist collide with his helmet. The punch had knocked Andros off of his feet.

"Say 'goodbye,' you Power Ranger son of a bitch," said Ecliptor angrily, pressing a foot to the red Ranger's throat and holding his sword to his heart.

Then, two loud gunshots were heard, and they all felt the earth shake violently.

Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, Andros kicked Ecliptor in the groin, sending the cyborg reeling in pain. Then, a white fist connected to Ecliptor's stomach, then another to his head, knocking the monster senseless. Panting, Andros raised Ecliptor's head to his own eye level, and delivered a powerful punch across Ecliptor's jaw.

They all heard screams of pain and swearing. There were two voices, one was definitely Elora's, and the other was an older man who screamed, "You Power Ranger bitch, hold still!"

Elora replied with "Go to hell, old man!"

The earth shook more violently, more shots were heard, a blaster also went off, and then a sickening thud.

Then it became eerily quiet. No one made a move, not even Ecliptor, who was shocked that the purple Ranger had encountered a foe that was using a weapon from Earth.

"We'll finish this later, then," he said at last.

"Fine," said T.J. still standing in the same spot, not even paying attention to Ecliptor, who decided to escape.

"Please, God, no," Cassie said quietly to herself, worried that something had happened to Elora. She looked around, and judging from everyone else, they were all worried about her as well.

"Let's go!" shouted Andros. The Rangers ran behind the school, each of them praying that nothing had happened to their friend.

Poison-Stripes and Goldar were still fighting each other, refusing to yield.

Then, they both heard loud pops, intense shouting, felt tremendous vibrations, more shouting, more pops, and a sickening thud. The silence was almost as loud as the noises the two warriors had heard, for they didn't know what had just happened. To Poison-Stripes, she knew then and there that she just _had _to get to the high school, where Ecliptor was. To Goldar, he knew that something must have happened to cause the hybrid warrior to stop dead in her tracks. He, too, was also concerned about the thud he heard. _There's no damn way that Ecliptor was beaten _that _badly by those multi-colored punks, _he thought.

"I'll have to take a rain check, Goldy," said Poison-Stripes distractedly, extremely worried about her friends.

"Fine," he replied, quickly getting away from her.

"Hang on, guys, I'm coming," she said to herself, putting her sword away and running as fast as her legs could carry her to Angel Grove High School.

"Damn, this brat was a fighter, but I've got her, Zero," said Ocelot to his commanding officer.

"Hmm, so this is the purple Ranger in the flesh. Put her on that bed, Ocelot," ordered Zero, pointing to the metal board in the room.

"Yes, sir," replied Ocelot nonchalantly. Carrying the child to the metal table, he put her on the bed and fastened her wrists and feet. He took her gun from her white holster and placed it on a counter next to the machine used for interrogation. "Some kid. The brat almost iced me. No matter. I'll get my revenge soon enough," he said to himself, rubbing his right shoulder from where he got slammed into a tree.

"Ocelot, how is she?" asked Dr. Clark, walking in and seeing the child Ranger unconscious.

"Sleeping like a baby," he replied.

"You're hurt!" she exclaimed, pointing to his right shoulder. His right shoulder was not only sore; it had a nasty-looking cut as well.

"Oh, so I am. She ruined a $200 shirt, too, in that little scuffle," he remarked coolly, now feeling blood oozing from the gash.

"You're going to need stitches, Ocelot," Dr. Clark said worryingly, now fussing over him as she did with Big Boss during Operation Snake Eater.

"Soon, the world will be united, and we will be its masters," said Anderson as he walked in the room full of pride, patting Ocelot on his other shoulder for a job well done.

"Well, we have finally done it. We have captured an immortal Ranger," Zero said in a menacing tone, an evil grin spreading all over his face. They all began to laugh together manically, save for Ocelot, who had walked out of the room unnoticed, and headed for the bathroom to clean himself up a bit.


End file.
